Out Of Options
by J. B. Tilton
Summary: The Enterprise faces a ship that can destroy it and is faster than it is who won't answer their hails. Is this the final mission for Captain Archer and his crew?


ENTERPRISE  
"OUT OF OPTIONS"  
by J. B. Tilton  
  
Rating: G  
  
Disclaimer: "Star Trek", "Enterprise", and all related characters and events are the sole property of Paramount Pictures, Inc., except for those specifically created by me for this story. This is fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.  
  
* * *  
  
The Enterprise faces a ship that can destroy it and is faster than it is who won't answer their hails. Is this the final mission for Captain Archer and his crew?  
  
* * *  
  
Captain Archer sat in his command chair watching the view screen. The Enterprise was currently moving at warp 5.13 but still the ship pursuing them was overtaking them; at warp 5.14. Every time he had ordered an increase in speed, the ship had matched that increase.  
  
It had all seemed so routine. Star Fleet had radioed that they had picked up some subspace signals from this sector. They had asked Archer to investigate. Happy that they might encounter a new civilization, Archer had ordered his ship into the area.  
  
At first, they had found nothing. They couldn't seem to pinpoint exactly where the subspace signals were coming from. Then the ship had appeared out of nowhere. One moment the sensors were clear, the next an alien ship was less than one thousand kilometers off their bow. It had simply appeared, as if by magic.  
  
Not magic, T'Pol had commented. Some sort of cloaking technology. A field that made a ship invisible to sensors until it dropped that field. In this case, they had dropped the field to open fire on the Enterprise. There had been no warning. Suddenly the ship had appeared and seconds later had fired some form of directed energy beam at them.  
  
The result had been very damaging. The impulse engines had been taken out with the first shot. The polarized plating of the Enterprise proved to be little hindrance to energy beam. The second shot had taken out the torpedo bays. Archer was thankful Malcolm had been on the bridge. Three crewmen had been injured in the torpedo bay and were now in sickbay being treated by the doctor.  
  
Repeated attempts to hail the ship had failed. They had simply refused to respond. In all, nine crew members were injured, two of the critically. Dr. Phlox wasn't sure if one of them would make it.  
  
The ship didn't fit any known configuration and had no markings. There was no way of knowing what race the ship belonged to. And as long as they wouldn't answer the hails, there was no way of knowing why they were firing on the Enterprise. With his weapons dead and his ship taking a pounding, Captain Archer had ordered Travis to lay in a course away from the area at warp three.  
  
But the ship had pursued them, traveling at warp 3.1. Archer ordered the ship to warp four, and the pursuer had increased to warp 4.1. Finally, Archer had ordered the ship to warp five. As if on cue, the pursuer had increased to warp 5.1. Now, they were traveling at warp 5.13, faster than they had ever traveled before. Still the pursuer continued to follow, moving just slightly faster than they were.  
  
Archer was running out of options. Their opponents wouldn't talk with them. The Enterprises' weapons were useless, so he couldn't fight. And as he tried to withdraw from the area, they had pursued.  
  
There was one bright spot in this whole mess; if you could call anything bright. While the ships were traveling at warp speed, their enemy hadn't fired a single shot. Either they preferred not to fire, with the increased chances of missing their target, or they couldn't fire while at warp. At least it gave him a few minutes to formulate some options. Very few minutes.  
  
Travis announced that the pursuing vessel would overtake them in approximately twenty seven minutes. Trip kept reporting to the bridge that the engines were passed their rated threshold; he was afraid of them buckling. After the torpedo bay had been hit, Malcolm had rushed down there to see to repairs. He reported it would be at least one hour before they were operational again.  
  
Hoshi continued to hail the ship without success. They still refused to answer the hails. Nothing he was doing was working. Everything he tried failed. In less than thirty minutes the enemy ship would catch up with them and would, in all likelihood, finish them off.  
  
"Hoshi," he said finally, "prepare to send a message to Star Fleet Command."  
  
"Ready, sir," said Hoshi.  
  
"Captain Jonathon Archer commanding the star ship Enterprise," Archer recorded. "We've encountered a hostile force at the coordinates of the subspace signals. It appears to be a superior ship and has refused to answer all hails. Several crewmen injured. Ship is damaged and will not be repaired in time. The hostile ship is faster than the Enterprise and we cannot outrun them. I've run out of options. Recommend no ships be sent into this region until their safety can be guaranteed. Archer out."  
  
He looked around the bridge at his crew. They were a good crew. They didn't deserve to die this way. They deserved to go out fighting, not running like scared rabbits from a dog.  
  
"Hoshi," he said, "include my last weeks' log entries into that message to Star Fleet. Let them know what we found out here."  
  
"Aye, sir," said Hoshi.  
  
"Well, people," said Archer. "You're a fine crew and I've counted it a pleasure to have served with you. But we're not out yet. I have one last maneuver up my sleeve. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use it."  
  
He pressed a button on his console.  
  
"Mr. Tucker," he said, "just how fast can you get us up to?"  
  
"Cap'n," responded Trip, "with the safety precautions I place I think . . . ."  
  
"Forget the safety precautions, Trip," said Archer. "Just how fast do you think you can get this ship going?"  
  
"No safety precautions, sir?" questioned Trip. "Well, I'm pretty sure we can reach warp 5.5 but it won't last long. Two, maybe three minutes, then the engines will go up like a roman candle. And the ship along with them."  
  
"Very well, engineer," said Archer. "On my mark, increase speed to as fast as we can. Disregard any safety precautions."  
  
"Aye, sir," said Trip.  
  
"Mr. Mayweather," said Archer, "I want you to lay in a new course."  
  
"Yes, sir," said Mayweather. "Heading, sir?"  
  
"Lay in an intercept course for the ship pursuing us," said Archer. "If we're going out, we're taking her with us."  
  
"Aye, sir," said Mayweather.  
  
Archer looked around his bridge one last time. It had been a grand adventure while it had lasted. If it was any consolation, they would always be the first ship to travel at warp five. At least they would get a mention somewhere in the history books.  
  
No one spoke. No one moved. They all knew this was their last move. As Archer looked at the faces of his crew one last time, he thought he saw Ensign Steiner begin to say something, then stop. Steiner had relieved Malcolm at the tactical station and was becoming a very fine tactical officer.  
  
"Mr. Steiner," said Archer. "Do you have something you'd like to say to us? If so, I think now is the time."  
  
"I was just wondering, sir," said Steiner. "What is the composition of the enemy vessels' hull?"  
  
"T'Pol," said Archer. "Do we have a sensor reading for that?" He thought it was an odd question at such a time.  
  
"Sensors indicate the enemy vessels' hull is comprised of materials similar to that of the Enterprise, Ensign," said T'Pol. "Why do you ask?"  
  
"Well, Sub-Commander," said Steiner, "I was just thinking. We haven't detected any polarized hull. Which means they are practically defenseless. All it would take would be a single torpedo to disable them."  
  
"Nice theory," said Archer. "But we have no way to launch a torpedo. Lieutenant Reed says the launch bays are inoperable."  
  
"Yes, sir," said Steiner. "But when I was a kid, I remember helping my uncle take some barrels of diesel fuel into town. They were used at a museum there in some antique vehicles that operated on diesel fuel. It was sort of a display showing the various types of transportation that had been devised over the years."  
  
"I assume there is a point to this story," said T'Pol.  
  
"Yes, sir," said Steiner. "Well, we transported the fuel in these large drums. Uncle Henry had them lashed to the bed of an old wagon he had. He always made it a big event when he took them into tow. No one seemed to mind and sometimes we'd have transports lined up behind us for a couple of miles.  
  
"Well, this one time we were transporting them into town. We must have been moving about sixty kilometers an hour or so. All of a sudden, one of the straps holding the drums broke and several of the drums fell off the wagon. Before the transports behind us could stop or get out of the way, they had crashed into them. It made quite a mess."  
  
"Your point, Ensign?" asked T'Pol.  
  
"Why couldn't we do something like that with the torpedoes?" asked Steiner. "We could remove the delay activation fuses and replace them with contact fuses. Then we could just shove them out one of the cargo bays. They should drop out of the ship directly in our wake. At the speed we're traveling, I don't think that ship would be able to avoid them."  
  
"Use them like mines," said Archer. "Steiner, you're a genius. Archer to Reed."  
  
"Reed here, sir," responded Malcolm in the torpedo bay.  
  
"Malcolm, how long would it take you to remove the delay activation fuses on six torpedoes and replace them with contact fuses?"  
  
"About ten minutes, sir, why?" asked Reed.  
  
"Just do it," said Archer. "Then move the torpedoes to the aft cargo bay and stand by for further orders."  
  
"Yes, sir," said Reed.  
  
The minutes ticked by as the ship continued to close in on the Enterprise. Archer told Travis to maintain his intercept course heading just in case. After what seemed like an eternity, Reed announced that the torpedoes were modified and waiting in the cargo bay.  
  
"Malcolm," said Archer. "On my order, I want you to open the cargo bay doors and evacuate the atmosphere in the bay."  
  
"Sir," said Malcolm, "if I do that the torpedoes will be sucked out into space."  
  
"I know, Malcolm," said Archer. "Just do it."  
  
"Aye, sir," responded Malcolm.  
  
Archer waited patiently as the pursuing vessel drew closer. It was soon within only one hundred thousand kilometers of the Enterprise. Archer ordered Malcolm to open the bay doors and evacuate the atmosphere. As Malcolm followed orders, the torpedoes were sucked out into the wake of the Enterprise just as Malcolm had predicted.  
  
Archer watched the view screen hoping against hope that at least one of the torpedoes would find its' mark. Several seconds after releasing the torpedoes, the pursuing ship suddenly exploded on its' port side, followed by an other explosion on the starboard side. It immediately dropped from warp but was too slow in avoiding a third torpedo. The ship exploded into a million pieces as the third torpedo struck it dead center.  
  
The crew of the Enterprise cheered. What had looked like a no-win situation had suddenly turned in their favor. Even T'Pol nodded in agreement as the bridge crew congratulated Ensign Steiner on his brilliant plan.  
  
"Steiner," said Archer, "I'm recommending you for a commendation. Your quick thinking saved this ship and her crew."  
  
"Thank you, sir," said Steiner. "I wasn't sure if I should have said anything. After all, you're the captain. I figured you must have thought of that but discounted it for some reason."  
  
"I can honestly say," said Archer, "that the thought never occurred to me. If you ever have any more bright ideas, don't hesitate to speak up. There are times when we can all use some help."  
  
"Yes, sir," said Steiner.  
  
Archer left the bridge and went to his ready room to prepare his report to Star Fleet Command. And to prepare the recommendation for a commendation for Ensign Steiner.  
  
THE END  
  
If you've enjoyed this story, you can find more of my stories for a variety of shows and subjects at http://pub57.ezboard.com/bjerrysfanfictionsite. You can also post your stories if you like to write fan fiction. 


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